Wednesday, February 1, 2017

From ‘Bhujia Barons. The untold story of how Haldiram built a Rs 5000-crore empire’ by Pavitra Kumar

The year 1564 marks the earliest record of Marwaris in
Bengal: during the reign of Suleman Kirani, Rajput soldiers under Akbar’s flag
camped there, as stated by the author Taknet in his book, The Marwari Heritage. The contract to supply essentials to the
soldiers was conferred to the merchants of Marwar. Soon, these Marwari seths
became a revered upper class in society, and rulers from different states in
India began to compete with each other to entice the seths to set up businesses
in their towns. Marwari seths were given armed protection for their convoys,
and charters for the construction of schools, temples and wells. They were even
offered immunity from customs, search and seizures, as well as criminal
prosecution. Many privileges were bestowed upon them, their opinions given
weight, their cooperation of utmost importance to states, as rulers were
dependent on the merchant community for economic support.

‘Only 15 per cent of family businesses make it past the
third generation,’ touts the Wall Street
Journal. Most globally reckoned with family enterprises such as Johnson
& Johnson and the Mayo Clinic only survived the test of time because they
realized early on to develop robust policies and processes to manage succession
and the involvement of human ties and emotions in business……..

Bengalis are a warm academic people with great veneration
for art and culture. While Marwaris have lived for generations among Kolkata’s
older inhabitants, they have never been welcomed into its folds with open arms.
……Once the British left, it was the Marwaris that helped Kolkata maintain its economy
and egged it on towards becoming the prosperous urban agglomeration that it is
today.

In spite of the Marwaris’ enormous contribution towards the
prosperity of the city, many would still say that Bengalis in Kolkata have
never been able to see eye to eye with them. Their lifestyles and ideologies
have been too dissimilar to blend together easily…..Where the Bengalis love
their fish, most Marwaris follow a strictly vegetarian diet. Traditionally,
being supporters of trade and commerce, Marwaris have been oriented to the
right and hence been known to be anti-left politically, whereas the majority of
Bengalis are staunch leftists. This brings a huge rift in daily beliefs of how
the government should run…….and the very definition of work ethics. ……Bengalis,
since time immemorial, have turned up their noses at businessmen, believing
theirs to not be a respectable profession.

Delhi is the largest at approximately Rs 3000 crore annual
revenues, while Nagpur (Rs 2000 crore) and Bikaner (the Bikaji brand, Rs 1500
crore) compete for the second and third spots.